Roy Wilson
Roy V. Wilson is the creator of the Thomas Wooden Railway line of merchandise. He also was the head of Learning Curve from its establishment in 1992 to 1999. Early life and education Wilson attended Purdue University in West Lafeyette, Indiana as an engineering major. He stated having an interest in mechanics, science, and electrical engineering when he was younger. He later attended Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, studying industrial design. While there, he wrote his graduating thesis on preschool educational developmental toys. After graduating, he founded Creative International in 1967. Wilson chose to largely remain independent, occasionally working on various long-term contracts with other companies. Thomas Wooden Railway Roy Wilson was approached by representatives from the Early Learning Centre in 1992. He was asked to help develop a wooden train merchandising line for the Thomas the Tank Engine television series. Wilson established the Learning Curve company in Connecticut that same year along with John W. Lee. Wilson was tasked with working long hours every week. He had to create twelve handmade prototypes of everything to send to Britt Allcroft to propose the Thomas Wooden Railway. Wilson expressed some frustration in the inexperience many of his working colleagues had with manufacturing and designing. Within a few months, large preorders were made for these new products. Wilson had the responsibilities to design, invent, engineer, produce artwork, and photograph exhibition versions of the Thomas Wooden Railway products. He also assisted in pricing, manufacturing techniques, sales, and marketing. Wilson additionally served as a frequent liaison to the Britt Allcroft Group & Shining Time Station. Being disappointed with the direction the line was going and its increased use of plastic in a wooden railway, Roy Wilson withdrew from Learning Curve in 1999. His final work for the Thomas Wooden Railway was to design toys of the characters from the film ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad. ''Britt Allcroft sent reference photos and tapes of the film before its heavy cuts, which were sent back upon the toys' completion. Post-Thomas Wooden Railway During his time at Learning Curve, Roy Wilson also created the Lamaze Infant Learning System, which was introduced in 1994. In 1999, as he began to leave the company, Wilson also worked on inventing the now-patented TRAK2BRIK system, which consists of clips that attach to most wooden railway track brands and allows for construction bricks to be built underneath them. Roy Wilson expressed concern over the 2007 recall of various Thomas Wooden Railway products. He had established an inspection program while working at Learning Curve that consisted of hourly testing of random paint samples to ensure the paint was safe; no reported issues had occurred during his time. More recently, Wilson has been selling items from the Thomas Wooden Railway on eBay due to "age and health issues." These include one-of-a-kind hand-made prototypes manufactured in his Creative International workshop in Arcade and Buffalo, New York. The first few of various production items ever made have also been put up for sale. He has also sold a variety of stamps and jewelry. Trivia *His signature can be found on several items. *His favorite items are the Sodor Railway Repair and the Flying Scotsman. *On the Sodor China Clay Cars, Roy Wilson put his birthdate, 3547, on the red car, and his eldest son's birthdate, 5272, on the green car. *He, along with a few of his friends, produced most of his prototypes in a building behind the Arcade Herald newspaper building in Arcade, New York, a small town about 40 miles away from Buffalo, New York. *He has a 12 x 12 x 8 feet safe filled with Thomas Wooden Railway prototypes from 1992 to 1998, as well as some from 2006. Gallery Items FirstPrototypeThomas.jpg|First hand-made prototype Thomas RoyWilsonHandmadeThomas.jpg|Handmade Thomas RoyWilsonHandmadeThomas1.jpg|Handmade Thomas FirstEverThomas.jpg|First-ever produced Thomas FirstEverThomasBottom.jpg|Roy Wilson's signature on the first-ever produced Thomas RoyWilsonHandmadeEdward.jpg|Handmade Edward FirstPrototypeGordon.jpg|First hand-made prototype Gordon RoyWilsonHandmadePercy.jpg|Handmade Percy FirstPrototypeToby.jpg|First hand-made prototype Toby RoyWilsonHandmadeDouglas.jpg|Handmade Douglas RoyWilsonHandmadeBill.jpg|Handmade Bill 1993Ben.jpg|Handmade Ben RoyWilsonHandmadeDaisy.jpg|Handmade Daisy RoyWilsonHandmadeDaisy1.jpg|Handmade Daisy PeterSamHandMade.jpg|Hand-made Peter Sam prototype 1995PrototypePeterSam1.jpg|Second hand-made Peter Sam prototype RoyWilsonHandmadePeterSam2.jpg|Handmade Peter Sam 1993PrototypeRusty.jpg|Hand-made Rusty prototype RoyWilsonHandmadeAnnie.jpg|Handmade Annie RoyWilsonHandmadeClarabel.jpg|Handmade Clarabel RoyWilsonHandmadeTroublesomeTruck.jpg|Handmade Troublesome Truck RoyWilsonHandmadeTroublesomeTruck1.jpg|Handmade Troublesome Truck ToadHandMadePrototype.jpg|Hand-made Toad prototype RoyWilsonHandmadeTerence.jpg|Handmade Terence PrototypeSTHcar.jpg|Hand-made Sir Topham Hatt's Car prototype RoyWilsonHandmadeSirTophamHatt'sCar.jpg|Handmade Sir Topham Hatt's Car RoyWilsonHandmadeSirTophamHatt'sCar1.jpg|Handmade Sir Topham Hatt's Car (road wheels) RoyWilsonHandmadeGeorgePrototype.jpg|Hand-made George prototype Design Plans MavisBlueprints1.jpg|Mavis' design plans OliverDesignPlan.jpg|Oliver's design plans DieselBlueprints1.jpg|Diesel's design plans RustyDesignPlan.jpg|Rusty's design plans D199DesignPlan.jpg|D199's design plans ChineseDragonDesignPlan.jpg|Chinese Dragon's design plans BreakdownTrainBlueprints1.jpg|The Breakdown Train's design plans BreakdownTrainBlueprints2.jpg BocoKnapfordExpressCoachDesignPlan.jpg|Boco and the Knapford Express Coach's design plans 1993TroublesomeTruck4.jpeg|Troublesome Truck's design plans and face print EllsbridgeStation1.jpeg|Ellsbridge Station and the Single Stone Tunnel's decal prints TurntableBridgeActionSwitchTrackBlueprints.jpg|Design plans for the 8" Turntable, Action Switch Track, and Sodor Bay Bridge Production Parts ThomasFaces.jpg|Thomas faces illustrating the irregularity of the early printing processes RoyWilson'sEngineParts.jpg ProductionParts2.jpg Category:Miscellaneous